Over time, the function of some system components of a computing system has been integrated into the processor chip. Today, such functions include that of memory controllers, network interface controllers, and general-purpose I/O interfaces. For example, conventional high-end graphics processing units now include as many as six memory controllers along with a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) controller. When the memory controllers are integrated into the processor chip, many hundreds of off-chip pins are needed to connect the memory controllers to external memory devices, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM). Even when the number of off-chip pins for an interface is reduced, the number of off-chip pins continues to increase as more system components are integrated into the processor chip. For example, when a network interface controller is integrated into a processor chip, off-chip pins needed to couple the network interface controller to a router are added to the processor chip and the off-chip pins that provided the PCIe interface to the network interface controller are retained to enable communication between the processor and other system components.
Thus, there is a need for improved utilization of off-chip pins and/or addressing other issues associated with the prior art.